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The mood in Obama's foreign policy team is tense following an extended Asia trip that produced no palpable results. The "first Pacific president," as Obama called himself, came as a friend and returned as a stranger. The Asians smiled but made no concessions.

You may or may not know why this blog is titled the Greeneyeshade Blog.   I am a CPA by training, a self-professed bean-counter.  I also sit on 3 of Committees available to Members of the House that hold jurisdiction over areas of federal economic policy, budgeting, and economic analysis.  I feel it is particularly instructive that we take a look at some history…because after all, the numbers don’t lie.

- In February 2009, Democrats enacted a debt increase, with the premise and promise that by borrowing another trillion dollars would create jobs for more Americans and that it would happen immediately, thereby thwarting the unemployment rate from rising above 8%...we are now at 10.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is a 26 year high.

- Since taking control of Congress in January of 2007, Democrats have presided over a 39% increase in the nation’s debt from $8.670 trillion to $12.039 trillion.

- According to the President’s budget, the national debt will soar from $9.961 trillion at the start of 2009 to more than $24.4 trillion in 2019…that’s an increase of 144%.

“It is important though to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession.”

—President Barack Obama, November 18, 2009

Recently, the White House indicated that it has plans to raise the national debt limit as part of a larger upcoming piece of legislation.  What this means is that the United States Government has run out of its statutory borrowing authority…just like the credit card you have in your wallet or purse…there is a limit on what one can spend.

This is the second time in 2009 that the debt limit has been increased. 

Here is a brief situation report of our economy right now:

• - The national debt has increased to $12.039 trillion or 85 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• - The debt limit was raised from $11.315 trillion to $12.104 when Speaker Pelosi and President Obama passed their ‘non-stimulating’ stimulus bill, nine months ago.
• - The government is now roughly $70 billion away from reaching the current limit.
• - The White House is now seeking a debt limit increase of at least $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion—increasing the limit to anywhere from $13.1 trillion to $13.6 trillion.

I will have more on this and a historical glimpse in the past tomorrow.

There are some extra congressional districts in California receiving stimulus dollars…the trouble is, they don’t exist.

Recovery.gov, the web portal designed by the administration to provide transparency and information on where and how the President’s stimulus dollars were being spent lists 9 congressional districts in California that don’t exist, yet they apparently have received $5,740,757 in stimulus dollars, creating 24.2 jobs, which equates to about $237,221 per job.  This odd reporting isn’t limited to California either; ABC News has reported that instances of the same problems are popping up all over the country.

When asked about the problem, Ed Pound, director of communications for recovery.gov said "We're not certifying the accuracy of the information.”  Asked why recipients would pluck random numbers - 26, 45, 14 - to fill in for their congressional district, Pound replied, "who knows, man, who really knows. There are 130,000 reports out there.''

I don’t know about you, but I don’t see how the White House can allocate over $1 million in stimulus dollars to California’s 00 District, nor how you can claim to create jobs in a district that doesn’t exist…but if the White House can’t keep track of $787 billion, how are they going to track the $1.6 trillion for health care?!

Last week I highlighted a story from Politico that indicated a shift in strategy by the Obama administration in 2010, to focus on the economy and jobs.

I along with many of my colleagues have been arguing since January that you absolutely cannot tackle any other domestic issues without the benefit of a strong economy and a pervasive jobs market.  Right now, we have neither.  Yet the Obama Administration has insisted on pursuing initiatives that are detrimental to jobs and job growth.

The main domestic focus for any President at a time like this should be…jobs, jobs, jobs.

Don’t take my word for it, here is a comparison chart produced by the Heritage Foundation based on White House estimates and reality…

"WELCOME TO THE TERRORIST for JOBS EXCHANGE"

READ THE FULL STORY HERE from FOX NEWS.

Track KMC 24/7

Today, the D.C. based political newspaper, Politico, featured a story outlining reports of a shift in spending strategy by the Obama Administration, who, according to the story, will shift focus exclusively to cutting the federal deficit in 2010. 

This shift is undoubtedly a result of the political calculus going on over at the White House these days.  Remember, President Obama has spent more money in 9 months than President Clinton spent in eight years, pushing the deficit to $1.4 trillion. 

Meanwhile, the President and his D.C. collectivists are poised to make a final push for an additional $1.6 trillion in spending for its government takeover of healthcare and that’s not even accounting for the costly ‘Cap and tax’ legislation that he and Speaker Pelosi forced through the House earlier this year.

The President says he wants to focus on cutting the deficit, but his actions say another thing, and we all know that actions speak louder than words.